Google map of World of Warcraft
Posted by Ray @ 7:19 pmFrom the holy shit department: a map of World of Warcraft, made with the Google maps API.
Their site’s running real slow, and so I couldn’t test all the features, but really cool nonetheless. Check it out here: http://www.mapwow.com/.
A Brief New York City Jam
Posted by Ray @ 12:09 amWhile everyone’s waiting for Uma Thurman to strut her stuff on the Silver Screen adaptation of The Producers, I had the wonderful opportunity to see the actual musical on Broadway in New York.
Waiting in line for tickets
We were fantastically lucky; we managed to nab the last 3 student crush tickets (only US$23!) to that night’s show. The seats were designated “Limited Visibility”, but we only really missed a part of one scene on the right corner.
The musical was most excellent. I don’t know how the movie will turn out, but if the musical is any indication, it’s going to be good (accounting, of course, for the usual reduction in quality associated with broadway-to-hollywood conversions).
Unfortunately, The Producers was the only musical budget and time allowed me to watch. I had to pass up on The Lion King and The Phantom of the Opera. Not much of a loss, as the latter two were standing-room only for twice the price (about US$50), but a sore spot nonetheless.
Also, a friend tells me Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is well worth the entry price, so if you’re ever in the area, go take a gander.
New Years’ Eve party in Times Square, New York!
…was honestly kind of disappointing. We stood there in the cold for 8 straight hours in a large, crowded, multifarious and rather accurate impression of the insides of a sardine-can, eyes stuck on a 2-meter diameter ball (which I was told is a geodesic dome - like, wow!) that was so high up on a building that it looked like a ping-pong ball with glitter on it, listening alternately to a bad DJ and to bands who were not invited to the cooler New Year parties, all just so we could count backwards from ten.
And the worst crime? No alcohol.
Afterwards, we couldn’t even go clubbing because a friend we’d lost at about 2.30pm on New Years Eve failed to show up, and we spent hours ringing police departments and hospitals and searching subway stations. The aforementioned friend finally turned up at 7am the next day, and when questioned as to why she’d chosen that particular time to come back home:
“I thought it was reasonable to presume that you’d all go clubbing and wouldn’t be back until the next morning.”
She’d then spent all that time in the McDonalds at Times Square (the one with the model of Times Square on the second floor).
Sigh.
But all in all… a belated Happy New Year to everyone. And grats to Cowboy Caleb for getting his girl.
Fun Costs Money
Posted by Ray @ 11:57 amNote to everyone going to Whistler, BC, for a ski/snow-board trip during the peak season: bring lots of money.
That, my friends, was for one day of snow-boarding (for two people). Times like this, phrases like “A bomb”, “Daylight robbery” and “KNN why so f*#king expensive!!?” end up being pathetically pitiful adjectives, wholly inadequate to the task of describing the enormity of the situation.
A Timely Reminder of My Own Mortality
Posted by Ray @ 10:38 pmYesterday (or the day before, my time zones are still a bit funked), a 21-year-old woman was swimming some 15m off the shore of Amity Point on North Stradbroke Island, Brisbane, Australia. There, she was attacked by possibly three or more sharks of unknown species, lost both her arms, and died shortly after being evacuated to a Brisbane hospital. [link]
If you recall, North Stradbroke Island is where we went diving a scant couple of months back.
Despite the scare, I’m probably continuing my dives there next semester.
Wish me luck!
How not to write tuition ads
Posted by Ray @ 12:04 pmHere’s a private tuition ad that I found profoundly disturbing. This was taken outside my house, just before I left for Vancouver:
I know it’s not really legible, so here’s a transcript of what it says:
I Aspire to Inspire
- To nurture, empower and educate girls during a pivotal time in their lives
- Through empathy, girls grow to set and reach their personal goals
- I create an environment in which girls take risks, expand their horizons and realize their potential
- Swanky and lovely air-conditioned setting
- Geared for students who are average to gifted in ability, I offer courses in Mathematics and English.
- Many TKGS and KC students have improved immensely under my tutelage
Tuition for girls: [phone number]
“Swanky” air-conditioned setting? An environment where “girls take risks”?
That sounds… wrong. Granted, there’s a slim possibility this tutor is the real thing, but think for a moment: he or she purports to teach English, yet the phrasing of the ad would suggest mere technical competence with the language, with no regard for its nuances. Would you want someone like that teaching your girls?
And besides, the ad’s stuck onto the side of a power box in the middle of the sidewalk.
Parents, tread warily. Caveat emptor!
Happy Holidays Indeed
Posted by Ray @ 6:49 pmI’m not actually in Vancouver right now. I just spent the new year at Times Square in New York City.
Cool stuff.
That explains the lack of updates. Photos to come eventually. It’s 6 AM now as I write this. Tomorrow, we hit the Statute of Liberty and the Museum of Modern Art. I have about 3 hours to sleep.
This rocks.* Check back with you soon.
*Apart from what I hope is a small hiccup - a few of you know what I’m talking about. Let’s hope it doesn’t blow up.